


After All This Time

by buoyantsaturn



Series: Still Into You [2]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: Aphrodite!Nico, M/M, godswap au, hades!will, nico breaks his ankle, nico flirting with other boys to make will jealous, nico pretending hes not upset
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-12
Updated: 2017-09-12
Packaged: 2018-12-27 03:01:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12072270
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/buoyantsaturn/pseuds/buoyantsaturn
Summary: Nico spent a lot of time intentionally not thinking about Will and tried to continue on with his regularly scheduled camp activities - specifically, flirting with other boys at the climbing wall.





	After All This Time

**Author's Note:**

> i was torn between 'after all this time' and 'not a day goes by' bc those are both lyrics from still into you by paramore aka my favorite band but anyway thats not important whats important is that college hasnt killed me yet so heres a fic  
> also sorry if theres any typos i had to post this real quick before leaving for class so hope its decent

The same day that Will had made out with Nico in the Aphrodite Cabin, Nico had gotten all dressed up - which wasn’t difficult, seeing as he appeared well-dressed in literally everything he owned - and went to return the shoes that Will had abandoned at Nico’s bedside. However, when Nico knocked on the door to the Hades Cabin, there was no answer. He’d pressed his ear to the door with a frown, trying to hear if anyone was inside. He’d even summoned all the power he could into his voice and said to the door, “Hey, it’s Nico. I’d really like it if you opened this door for me, do you think you could do that?” But there was still no response.

Either Will really wasn’t in his cabin, or Nico didn’t have the same effect on him that he’d thought. Maybe… Will didn’t actually have feelings for Nico, like he’d said. Nico let the frown linger on his face for a few more seconds before neutralizing his expression - he didn’t want to have to worry about frown lines on top of the rejection he was already feeling - and dropped Will’s shoes by the door.

For a few weeks, Nico didn’t see Will. He tried not to let it bother him, but why wouldn’t it? He’d thought they had a good thing going! Or at least, they would have, if Will hadn’t run away. So Nico spent a lot of time intentionally  _ not _ thinking about Will and tried to continue on with his regularly scheduled camp activities - specifically, flirting with other boys at the climbing wall.

Nico was about halfway up the climbing wall when he finally saw Will again, standing amongst the watching crowd. Nico couldn’t help a tiny smirk that rose to his lips as he shook his hips slightly before climbing up a few more feet - he was also particularly happy about his choice of high-waisted skinny jeans that day, they made his ass look  _ amazing. _

He glanced down at the crowd below, trying to find someone to flirt with that might make Will jealous, but his eyes were too drawn toward the son of Hades. His smirk grew as he got an idea. “Enjoying the view from down there, Solace?” he called, and waited until Will blushed and turned away before he continued climbing.

As Nico pressed the toe of his shoe onto far too small of a ledge, the rocks began to crumble out from under him. His body smacked against the rock face as his other foot gave out from under him, leaving him only hanging on by his hands. He glanced down at the ground as his feet scrambled for purchase, estimating that he was easily fifteen feet from the ground, and falling from here would definitely cause some damage. It would’ve been  _ great _ if his feet could find something to snag on before his hands gave out--

Nope, never mind. He was falling, and the harness around his hips - which, Nico had thought when he’d pulled it on earlier,  _ also _ made his ass look amazing - was doing nothing to slow the descent. He watched the ground quickly nearing and only had a split second to prepare for the impact. He hit the ground harshly on one foot, rolling backward to lessen the damage, and sprawled out on his back on the ground.

His ears were ringing, the breath was knocked from his lungs, and the sky above him seemed unfocused. When a face appeared above him, it took Nico a few seconds to even recognize the icy blue eyes and pale skin hovering over him, but when he did, Will was already pulling Nico into a sitting position.

“Nico?” Will asked, cupping Nico’s cheek in his hand and forcing his eyes to focus on him. “Are you alright?”

“Fine,” Nico wheezed, trying to conjure up any kind of smile to his face, but it appeared as more of a grimace when he looked down at his foot, ankle bent at an unnatural angle. “Oh, geez, that...shouldn’t look like that.”

Will, too, winced at the sight. “I’m gonna take you to the infirmary, is that okay?” When Nico nodded, Will stood and held out his hands. “Stand up, but don’t put any weight on that ankle.” He pulled Nico up onto his foot, though he was still dizzy from the impact and nearly wound up on the ground again. 

Somehow, Nico found himself plastered against Will’s back, being carried piggyback-style toward the infirmary. Nico wanted to ask how they’d gotten into that position, but realized that he finally had an opportunity to talk to Will without him running away.

“Hey, Will?” Nico started softly, resting his chin on Will’s shoulder. “Did you...change your mind about me?”

He could feel Will’s breath catch. “What do you mean?”

“You left your shoes in my cabin,” Nico reminded him. “I went to give them back to you, but you weren’t in your cabin. And then I didn’t see you for weeks. I thought you-- That we could maybe--” He groaned quietly, hiding his face in Will’s neck. “I was gonna ask you on a date. Or ask if you maybe wanted to, you know, pick up where we left off or something, but… Then I never saw you.”

“I’m sorry,” Will mumbled. “I had to run an errand for my father. I didn’t mean to make you think I was avoiding you.” He stopped at the door to the infirmary and said, “Uh, can you…?” Nico reached forward and pulled on the door handle, holding it open so that Will could carry him through.

“So, what you’re saying is that you  _ do _ still like me,” Nico said hopefully when Will stopped near one of the empty cots and allowed Nico to slide off his back. Nico dropped onto the cot as Will spun around, fiddling awkwardly with the cuffs on his sweatshirt sleeves.

“Of course I do,” Will said like it was obvious.

Nico grinned, resting back on his hands and gazing up at Will with his dazzling smile. “So, do you wanna pick up where we left off?” He waggled his eyebrows, unable to keep his expression serious as he did so, and Will snorted, finally cracking a grin.

Before Nico knew it, Will was dropping a knee at Nico’s side and swooping down to press his lips to Nico’s. Nico fisted his hands in the front of Will’s sweatshirt and pulled him closer, falling back to lay down on the cot and dragging Will with him. Keeping his lips locked with Nico’s, Will struggled to get comfortable on top of the son of Aphrodite, afraid of one of them accidentally getting a knee in an uncomfortable place. In the midst of all of Will’s moving around, he nudged Nico’s broken ankle, causing him to hiss in pain.

Will pulled back - as far as Nico would let him with the hand still gripping his sweatshirt and the other that had migrated into his hair - and stared worriedly into Nico’s eyes. “I’m sorry, are you okay? We should elevate your ankle, or something. Or I could go find an Apollo camper--”

“Will,” Nico said calmly, sweetly, “I’m fine. Do you really want to interrupt this,  _ now?” _

Will felt himself being pulled down once again - maybe it was Nico’s hand in his hair, maybe it was the soft smile on his lips, maybe it was a hint of charmspeak layered into Nico’s voice - but he allowed another kiss. He relaxed into it, letting his weight fall over Nico, though he careful to keep from bumping into Nico’s bad ankle once again.

Will had just slipped a hand underneath Nico’s shirt when a loud groan was heard from across the room. Will hurried to prop himself up over Nico, both of their heads shooting to the side with matching wide eyes and red cheeks.

Malcolm, head of the Apollo Cabin now that Annabeth was in college, stood a few cots away with a clipboard in one hand, the other covering his eyes. “Gods, why do people always make out here, of all places?” he muttered to himself. He peeked through a crack between his fingers, and when he saw that Will and Nico were no longer attached at the mouth, he pulled his hand away. “If there’s nothing wrong with either of you, please get out before one of the younger campers catch you.”

He turned to leave, but Nico called, “Wait, Malcolm! I broke my ankle!”

Malcolm glanced back suspiciously and said, “We only pay attention to beds with one person on them.”

“I’ll leave,” Will offered, rising off the bed and stepping away, only to stop when Nico’s hand closed around his wrist.

“That’s it?” Nico asked. “What if I need someone to hold my hand through the pain?”

“You shouldn’t experience any pain during healing,” Malcolm told him, walking closer to the cot. When he looked down at Nico’s twisted ankle, however, he turned to Will and said, “Actually, yeah, you should stay.”

Will pulled up a nearby chair and sat down at Nico’s bedside. Nico held out a hand, fingers wiggling, and smiled brightly when Will laced them with his own. For a moment, Nico hoped that he wouldn’t have to go through any more extreme measures to get Will to talk to him, but as he watched the slowly blooming smile on his face, Nico realized that he wouldn’t have to. Nico knew he was pretty gay himself, but now he knew that Will was pretty gay for him, too.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading!!! the ending is lame and im aware dont talk about it


End file.
